Thirty-one weeks after the first day of the second new year

Every single piece of information you’re exposed to, whether you hear, see or read it, is accompanied by an opinion. Either of the journalists providing the account of whatever event or situation you’re seeking information about, or of the anchors at the news desk or the analysts and contributors you see sitting beside them or read the op-eds of, or of people, people just like you who you encounter on social media or near you, in your daily life. Some of these opinions you probably don’t like. But that doesn’t mean they don’t have the right to exist, just like yours does.

Yes, reporting can be inaccurate at times, and yes, it can also be unfair. And the voices of people everywhere you who talk about what they’ve seen or heard, they too can be wrong at times. Mistakes are made, and misperceptions happen. But the words of others inform you about occurrences you might otherwise not know about, and they can, and do, shine a light on wrongdoing. And the opinions of others increase your awareness, bring new aspects to your
attention, show you angles you haven’t thought of.

You hate those other opinions? Fine. Hate them, but know all about them and where they come from. Disagree with them but know why. Don’t just disagree because someone tells you to. Make up your own mind. Don’t just get stuck in an opinion because you don’t want to admit you might be wrong. Take a step back and look at it from all sides, and then do the same with the opinions of others. Make an informed decision.
At any given moment, different people with different agendas vie for your attention. People with agendas want two things: to convince you that their opinions are the only ones that are right, and to drown out all other opinions by making you mistrust them and the persons who hold them. The best way not to let that happen is to learn the truth yourself. Don’t immediately believe what you’re told. Learn to judge for yourself. Not through following others blindly just because you like what they say or the way they say it, but through that capacity that we all have, that you have, for learning. Judge through discussion, through knowledge.

Is your opinion truly yours, or are you following something that someone else said just because you don’t want to stand up to them, or because you like the sound of it, or maybe it feeds the need to deal with a fear you have, or a problem you need solved, and instead of looking at how things really are, finding solutions or requiring them of those who can to do so productively, you follow the opinions of blame and incitement that are designed to shift responsibility without actually solving anything? Does the truth matter to you? It should. Because you can go with blame and aggression, but it’s not going to solve your problems. Ultimately, it will just make your life and everyone else’s worse.
It might feel good to follow the opinions of others, the opinions of the majority. To be part of the discussion, to be looked at favorably, to belong. It might feel safe. You’re one of them, they won’t go against you. It might feel like the best place to be, even as you watch those you are with turn with vengeance on other opinions. Even when you see other opinions around you die down in the face of aggression from those who hold the same opinion as you. Our opinion is all that matters, you might think. We won. And me, I’m with them. I’m safe.

Guess what: a week, a month, a year from now you will have a thought that differs from that of those you think you belong with. And you will be afraid to voice it. You will hesitate to say what you think to those you consider your friends. Or to speak up outside. On your street or in the supermarket, or in your workplace or when you pick your kids up from school. Because you’ll know what happens when you don’t echo the opinions of the people around you. Once that opinion that won on the taking down of all others is all that’s left, it will be your turn. How long do you think it’s going to be before they turn on you if, in their opinion, you say something they disagree with? If you try to think for yourself? How long do you think it’s going to be before you’re afraid to speak? Before you put your head down in silence?

You don’t have to like the opinions of others, but you need to have them. It is the freedom that allows all opinions to exist, that allows you to hold yours. As for your own opinion, you need to be able to discuss it rationally, to support it with reality, with true facts, with sound reasoning. If the only way you have is to believe without question, to accept what you suspect is false, and then to shout louder, to turn to aggression in order to silence the other, then your opinion doesn’t stand, and you need to revisit it. See what’s true and stand up for it. Yes, you are one, but your opinion matters. All the ones together make many, and the many can change life for the better.